I'm delighted to see the new General Motors take a significant step in a new direction: they've just named Susan Docherty, a 46-year-old sales executive with deep global and operational experience, Vice President of U.S. Sales. Never before in GM's 101-year history has a woman held this key spot. Here's more in this morning's Detroit Free Press.
It's about time. One of the Achilles Heels of the auto industry for decades has been that their senior leadership has not reflected the marketplace. Early reports show the 2010 U.S. Census will confirm that our nation of nearly 300 million people has become a complex, multi-cultural, multi-generational market -- with no such thing anymore as "the average Joe. Advertising Age commissioned Ogilvy & Mather advertising to do a white paper on the topic. And another thing: for the first time we now have a RECORD 70 Million grandparents in this country. That number is growing and they are deeply involved with financial decisions for their children as well as their grandchildren. For example, increasingly grandparents are footing the bill for private schools or college. So, naturally they have their opinions! Here's a link to the fascinating results.
